Toy airplane



Sept. 8, '1970 L. c. WALLACE TOY AIRPLANE Filed June 24, 1968 INVENTCR. LEON -C. WALLACE ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,526,989 TOY AIRPLANE Leon C. Wallace, 2483 S. 4th East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84115 Filed June 24, 1968, Ser. No. 739,402 Int. Cl. A63h 27/00 US. CI. 46-79 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF V THE DISCLOSURE A toy airplane having a one-piece body, wing, and tail unit made of lightweight, sturdy sheet material, a propeller mounted on one end of a shaft that is extended through the body and arms formed at the other end of the shaft that are centrifugally thrown against the body to create a loud clacking and scraping sound analogous to the sound of an actual airplane engine.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION Children are frequently fascinated by toys that emulate aircraft in appearance, handling and sound. As a result there have been made many such toys. Some are very realistic in appearance and others can actually be remotely operated like a real plane from the ground. However, the model aircraft that closely approach real aircraft in appearance and handling are usually quite expensive and can be built and handled only by more mature individuals. Other, less expensive, toy aircraft have been made and sold, but these are generally of the glider type, free flying, and incapable of creating the aircraft simulating noises that frequently find great favor among even very young children.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a low-cost easily constructed but durable toy aircraft that can be flown in controlled flight by even very young children and that will produce a very audible noise in simulation of the propulsion unit of a real aircraft.

Principal features of the invention include the onepiece body, wing and tail unit, made of a suitable lightweight, but strong sheet material. A wire serves as a propeller shaft and as one of a pair of arms that are centrifugally thrown into contact with the body as the propeller is rotated. The other arm of the pair of arms is made from a similar wire attached to and rotatable with the propeller shaft. A swivel attachment allows the toy plane to be twirled around a users head and by proper manipulation and/ or the bending of wings and tails the flight pattern obtained can be somewhat varied.

Additional objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and drawings, disclosing what is presently contemplated as being the best form of the invention.

THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention; FIG. 2, a top plan view; FIG. 3, a side elevation view; and FIG. 4, a vertical section, taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to the drawing:

In the illustrated preferred embodiment, the toy airplane, shown generally at 10, includes a V-shaped body section 11, wing sections 12 and 13, and tail sections 14 and 15.

The body section, wing sections and tail sections can be formed of a single sheet of bendable material such as aluminum or they can be formed in one piece of a mold- Patented Sept. 8, 1970 preferably one integral unit.

As shown, the body, wing and tail sections are made of a sheet of aluminum, folded upwardly in the center at 16 to form the V-shaped body section 11 and with outward folds 17 extending essentially parallel to the center fold 16 and spaced therefrom to form the wing sections 12 and 13, which then extend outwardly from the uppermost sections of the body section.

The tail sections 14 and 15 are cut from the body sections 12 and 13, respectively, and are folded upwardly along fold lines 18 that are continuations of the folds 17.

The leading edges of the body section are swept back from a depending nose piece 19 and continue to the outermost tips of the wings. Preferably this leading edge is rolled or otherwise reinforced to strengthen the aircraft and to reduce the possibility that injuries will occur should it accidently hit someone.

From their outermost tips the wings are angled back to a point intercepting the fold lines 18 and the tail sections.

The particular design of the body, wing and tail sections, in addition to being easy and economical to produce is appealing to children because of its futuristic appearance.

A propeller shaft 20, which is actually a length of stiff Wire, is passed through a hole provided therefor in the depending nose piece 19 and upwardly through another hole provided therefor in the center fold 16 before being angled outwardly from the center fold.

Another similar wire 21 is wrapped around shaft 20 between the angled section thereof, and the body section and then is angled outwardly in opposition to the angled section of shaft 20. The angled portions of the shaft and wire thus serve as a pair of lightweight, somewhat resilient, arms. Obviously, the two arms could also be interconnected by welding them together or in any other suitable fashion.

Shaft 20 and wire 21 are bent back at their tips 20a and 2112, respectively, to increase the spread obtained as the shaft and wire are rotated, all as will be further explained.

A propeller 22 is attached to the end of shaft 20 opposite wire 21 and washer type bearings 23 and 24 surround the shaft between the propeller and nose-piece 19 and between the body section and the connection of wire 21 to shaft 20, respectively.

A weight 25 is secured to the body section immediately behind nose-piece 19, by a bolt 26 that is passed therethrough and by a nut 27. The weight is offset from the center fold 16 to allow proper clearance of the shaft 20. Thus located at the nose, weight 25 stabilizes the aircraft during flight.

A short length of string 28 is attached at one end to the wing on the side of the aircraft opposite weight 25. A hole is provided in the wing for the purpose. A conventional swivel 30, at the other end of string 28 provides an attachment for a flight line 31, which may be of any suitable length.

In operation, the user will grasp string 31 and twirl the aircraft around his head. As the plane picks up speed the propeller 22 and the shaft 20 connected thereto are rotated progressively faster. The rotation of shaft 20 also rotates wire 21 and the arm forming portions of the shaft and wire are forced to spread outwardly by the centrifugal force developed. The slight, additional weight of their turned back ends 20a and 21a further provide sufficient mass to even further contribute to the applied centrifugal force.

As the spread portions of the shaft and wire turn they engage the V-shaped body section with both a scraping sound as they slide over the body section and a dominat- This combination of sounds effectively simulates a motor noise and is particularly appealing to children.

It should be apparent that materials other than those herein described can be used and that the Weight and propeller can be mounted in different ways. Also, as has been noted, the aircraft may be constructed without folding of the sheet material to form the various sections, i.e. by molding it of plastic.

While the present disclosure is of a presently perferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is made by way of example and that variations are possible without departing from the scope of the hereinafter claimed subject matter, which subject matter I regard as my invention.

I claim:

1. A toy airplane comprising an elongate, V-shaped body section;

wings extending from opposite sides of said body section;

tail means at one end of the body section;

a propeller at the other end of the body section;

a shaft fixed to the propeller and rotatable therewith;

means mounting said shaft to extend from the propeller into the V-shaped body section;

lightweight, resilient arms spread from the shaft within the V-shaped body section; and

line means connected to one of said wings, whereby the aircraft can be twirled by a user to rotate the propeller, the shaft and the resilient arms, such that the arms are centrifugally spread to strike the body section.

2. A toy airplane as in claim 1, wherein the V-shaped body section, the wings and the tail means are all formed of a single piece of material.

3. A toy airplane as in claim 1, wherein the V-shaped body section, the wings and the tail means are formed of a single sheet of aluminum, folded to shape.

4. A toy airplane as in claim 1, wherein the wings extend outwardly from each side of the body section at the top thereof; and

the tail means comprises a pair of upstanding tails, each aligned with the junction of the body and a wing and extending upwardly from an inner edge of the Wing.

5. A toy airplane as in claim 4, wherein the V-shaped body section, the wings and the tails are all formed of a single piece of material.

6. A toy airplane as in claim 5, further including a weight connected to the body section at the propeller end thereof.

7. A toy airplane as in claim 1, wherein the shaft is a stiff, somewhat flexible wire.

8. A toy airplane as in claim 7, wherein the arms are formed by an angled portion of the wire of the shaft and another Wire connected to the shaft to rotate therewith and angled outwardly therefrom in opposition to the angled portion of the wire of the shaft.

9. A toy airplane as in claim 8, wherein the wires forming the arms are turned back at their free ends.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,507,710 9/ 1924 Pohlman. 1,580,833 4/1926 Lipari 4651 X 1,712,074 5/1929 Fridolph 4677 1,883,651 10/1932 Ensley 4679 2,154,487 4/1939 Bonnell 4679 F. BARRY SHAY, Primary Examiner E. KRAUSE, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 46-51, 77 

